This is similar to the last debate. I do appreciate the Minister of State making time to be here. I do not generally have an issue with Ministers of State taking Topical Issues, but is it is preferable when the Minister of State is in the relevant Department. Maybe it is a function of late night Topical Issues and the way the Dáil is structured at the minute, but I do not think-----

That is not a criticism.

Not on this occasion.

I have been informed in the past, but to my knowledge I was not informed on this occasion.

I have no great gripe in regard to the Minister of State, Deputy Burke. I bring this case up partially in the context of having been contacted by a few individuals looking for assistance regarding applications. I am very conscious of one in particular. By way of context, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act was passed several years ago. It is a good piece of legislation. It is one we supported and it makes sense. It makes sense given that the decisions that are being taken are very weighty and significant in…

I note the point relating to the steering group. I am sure the Minister will not be able to commit to it on the floor of the House, but I might suggest that he request a meeting. The man to whom I have referred might have useful insights and if somebody from the steering group was in a position to speak to him, it might help. I have been contacted by a few others who are at the start of the process. We will see how they go. They were certainly very intimidated by the form when they first received it. The system is …

On Monday night, a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Onslow Gardens in Cork city. A number of children were very fortunate to escape without injury. In the past three weeks, there have been two shooting incidents in the city and very many more serious incidents. Communities in Cork city feel neglected and terrified when incidents like this happen. It is not only Dublin that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has left exposed by the lack of gardaí. Despite the best efforts of local gardaí, under the Minister, communit…

Absolutely, but we do not have enough gardaí.

That is-----

We are not getting enough on the streets.

I am a big advocate of the youth diversion programme because it makes a huge difference. I am familiar with a number of projects, including the TACT project and I have seen the difference it can make. It offers the right interventions at a crucial juncture. Carrigaline is a town that has grown very rapidly. As recently as the sixties, there were fewer than a thousand people in what was then a village. I checked the census and the population is now 18,239, but what really stood out is that the population aged under …

Some of that work is ongoing and I hope it will be forthcoming in the coming period. Some of the objective is to ensure that when that request comes, it receives a favourable and sympathetic response. The context is important. In some respects Carrigaline would be seen as an area which is relatively prosperous and that would be middle class. That is true to a large extent, albeit, as with any large town, there are pockets of disadvantage as well. No matter what the demographic make-up is, when you have that many yo…

That is effectively what I was expecting. I just wanted to confirm that my understanding was correct. Kudos to whomever spotted it. It seems like a very small part of the estate of Classes Lake on the Ballincollig-Ovens boundary. It is just about within the city council boundary and, therefore, Cork North-West. I just wanted to confirm that is the case and it is all in keeping with it. It is a peculiarity but there you go; we get these peculiarities. I will take the opportunity to make a point I made previously. We…

I am wondering if the Minister of State will answer the straight question. Will he answer the simple question of what missions this Government wishes to involve the State in that it is not currently permitted to do? If we are going peacekeeping and we are not doing it with the UN, then who are we going peacekeeping with? Will the Minister of State answer that question? I suspect not. Perhaps he will surprise me. That question will be asked dozens upon dozens of times this evening and I do not think we will get any …

Of the 126 gardaí who came out of Templemore last year, just one came to Cork. That continues a trend that has been going on for some time. Of the 237 new gardaí so far this year, only four are going to Cork. As I said, this is a quite worrying trend of Cork not getting its fair shake. We have approximately 10% of the population but are consistently getting just 1% or 2% of those who come out of Templemore. That is against the background of a very serious shooting last week and a number of other very serious incide…

Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh córas láidir leasa shóisialta ann chun a chinntiú go mbíonn cosaint ag daoine ó bhochtanas agus ó ghanntanas agus go mbeadh cabhair acu chun dul ar ais ag obair nó chun leanaí a thógáil agus le gach rud a théann leis sin. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach freisin go gcoimeádann na híocaíochtaí suas le ráta an bhoilscithe agus leis an ioncam gur chóir a bheith ag daoine i gcoitinne. Dá bharr sin, ní bheimid ag cur i gcoinne an Bhille seo, cé go mbeadh níos mó uainn agus go mbeadh rudaí eile déa…

The Government's political strategy with regard to the housing crisis consists of two things that I believe are not true, the first of which is that we have got this under control and things are getting better. By any metric, that is not true. House prices are increasing. They are beyond the reach of the vast majority of people who, as far as they are concerned, are doing everything they can and doing everything right. They are bettering themselves and getting training and an education to get jobs, but a mortgage i…

Hear, hear.

They deserve a lot more. An awful lot more.

On a point of order, I appreciate that the Ceann Comhairle is charged with ensuring the House is ordered in an orderly way.